Here is the beginning of the article in Forbes by
David Green, the Biblical Billionaire
Green
has become the largest evangelical benefactor in the world—with plans for
unprecedented gifts once he’s in heaven.
Fresh off an inspection of Hobby
Lobby’s sprawling 5.5 million-square-foot distribution warehouse in Oklahoma
City, the company’s CEO, David
Green, retreats to his office in the adjacent executive building,
where he surrounds himself with a collection of homely elephant figurines. His
coffee table is draped with a bird’s-eye-view photograph of his corporate
campus, annotated with scribbles in black marker that show the expansion under
way.
When I ask him to walk me through the
secrets to his company’s growth, which the aerial plans represent, the
70-year-old, with a full head of white hair, blue eyes and a prominent square
jaw, doesn’t take any personal credit. Nor does he laud his executives or his 22,000
employees or his customers, who will gobble up more than $3 billion worth of
crafts products from him this year. “If you have anything or if I have
anything, it’s because it’s been given to us by our Creator,” says Green,
sweeping his hand over the acres laid out before him. “So I have learned to
say, ‘Look, this is yours, God. It’s all yours. I’m going to give it to you.’ ”
He means that literally. David Green
has one of America’s great, little-known fortunes, having turned a makeshift
manufacturing operation in his living room for arts and crafts into a retail
monster, with 520 superstores in 42 states. Green and his family own 100% of
the company and he ranks No. 79 on our list of the 400 richest Americans, with
an estimated net worth of $4.5 billion. Hobby Lobby’s cash spigot currently
makes him the largest individual donor to evangelical causes in America.
“I don’t care if you’re in business or out of business, God owns it,” says
Green. “How do I separate it? Well, it’s God’s in church and it’s mine here? I
have purpose in church, but I don’t have purpose over here? You can’t have a
belief system on Sunday and not live it the other six days.”
There are very few members of The
Forbes 400 who bring religion to work. Most notable are Chick-fil-A’s Truett
Cathy and Forever 21‘s Jin Sook and Do Won Chang, born-again Christians
who keep Bibles in their office and print John 3:16 on the bottom of each
shopping bag...to read more click here
I am so encouraged by businessmen who live out their convictions. I know that they are not always popular, but when I look at who is "popular" I'm okay with not being popular. So I purpose to live and work for a BIG cause today. How about you?
Moving forward,
Jeff Roach
www.transportationtraining.com
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